Question: How do you focus your mind and outsmart a poverty consciousness? What is a bottom-line approach? So many programs drone on and on with detail after detail. There has to be a better way to outsmart a poverty consciousness.

Answer: Start focusing on you and your life. Stop thinking you can’t have a wealth consciousness; stop thinking that you’re responsible for everyone. You’re not! You are solely responsible for you and your happiness. No one can ‘get’ this for you. You must want it bad enough to erase the beliefs and thoughts that were spoken over you as a child.

What do you truly want for your life? Write it down — be clear about it. Also, stop asking unsuccessful people for their opinions and thoughts on your desires. Most peoples’ minds are switched and hooked into the ‘poverty’ mindset. You won’t get far if you continue to ask others about ‘this or that.’

How to Focus Your Mind and Outsmart Poverty

1. Get SUPER clear about what you want. What do you want? Can you visualize it? If not, can you find pictures of what you desire? Write down what you want and visualize everything the best you can. However, don’t become consumed by your desires — let them go. You can add, “This or something better for my highest good and the good of all.” Smile about your desires and know that you can have what you desire.

FYI: Most people really want love, peace and happiness. Material items are just that — they’re material.

2. Stop listening to the dogma of others. Steve Jobs was right, “Don’t listen to the dogma of others.” Stop taking advice from unsuccessful people. Surround yourself with successful people and you will be successful. Stop asking for permission from your spouse, mother, father, boss, cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. and live your life for you.

3. Toss out duty and obligation. There’s no law that says you MUST follow in the footsteps of your parents. There’s no law that says you MUST ALWAYS say “Yes” when you want to save “No.” You have a duty and obligation to yourself to live a happy and fulfilled life. Stop worrying about everyone else and start worrying that your life is passing you by like an out-of-control train. You don’t always have to help others. In fact, you could be doing more harm than good. If you keep helping people out, how will they ever learn to help themselves? It’s something to think about.

4. Start focusing on abundance. If you’re like most people, your mind is tuned to the “All Poverty 24-Hour Station” which is holding you in a place of lack. Start to recognize the abundance around such as ample trees, the yards of green grass, etc. You won’t and can’t attract abundance if you constantly focus on lack.

5. Stop hanging around with poverty conscious people. Like it or not, your family could be sucking the life out of you. You have every right NOT to hang around with these people. This may seem harsh but if you truly want to outsmart poverty it’s time to reevaluate your connections such as family and friends. How are they contributing to your success? Are they contributing to your success? Do they whine and complain? Do they blame their parents, the government and economy and other outside influences? It’s time to get your ‘personal house’ in order. It’s time to be truly honest and to let the people in your life go if they’re not healthy to be around.

Napoleon Hill’s book Outwitting the Devil is a MUST READ for anyone who wants to overcome a poverty conscious. It’s one the most thought-provoking books of its time. Even though it was written in 1938, it certainly applies to the 21st century. It’s a bottom-line approach to getting to the root of poverty conscious. Like it or not, self-examination is required. If you’re not willing to do the work from the inside out then you’ll still be stuck in your poverty consciousness. If you have children, you may want to take responsibility for your life, get clean and rid yourself of poverty consciousness once and for all.

My mom (Pat) asked me to publish this prayer on my blog. Since it’s for my mom, who in my opinion, is the Greatest Mom in the World, I agreed to publish it.

Prayer to the Virgin Mary … Never Know to Fail

O Most beautiful flower of Mount
Carmel, fruitful vine, splendor of
Heaven, Blessed Mother of the Son of
God, Immaculate Virgin, assist me in my
necessity. O star of the sea, help me show
me herein, you are my mother. O Holy
Mary Mother of God Queen of Heaven and
earth, I humbly beseech thee from the bottom
of my heart to succor me in my necessity. (Make
Request). There are none that can withstand your
power, O show me herein, you are my mother.
O Mary Conceived without sin, pray for us
Who Have recoursed to thee. (Say three times).
Holy Mary I placed this cause in your hands.
(Say three times).
Thank you for your mercy to me and mine
Amen.

*Say this prayer for three consecutive days theyou must publish it and it will be granted.

Let me ask you something: How well do you focus on what you want? If you’re like me, you watched The Secret and read the book but haven’t manifested the life of your dreams. If you’re like me, you probably keep asking, “What am I doing wrong? Why isn’t the law of attraction working? How can I make it work for me?” I had a ‘light bulb’ moment (Aha moments are so 2000s), and came across the The Secret of Doing Without Doing by Dr. Robert Anthony.

How to focus on what you want

1. Think about what you want. Do you really and truly know what you want? You may think you know what you want, but you may actually not know what you want. Knowing what you want for your life is imperative. Write down everything you’d like from having peace of mind to a new home. Get clear about what you want.

2. Tune-out the negative hype. I’m reading *Outwitting the Devil, which is annotated by Sharon Lechter. You may be surprised how easy it is to ‘hypnotize’ people with hype. Look at the media. If you constantly tune-in to the news or read the newspapers, you’re programming your subconscious for negativity.

*Get the book from your library and read it. You’ll be amazed at what you read. The first two chapters are slow going; however, Chapter 3 A Strange Interview with the Devil will knock your socks off!

3. Stop listening to others. You don’t have to focus on what you family and close friends think and say. If the people closest to you constantly whine and complain, it may be time to surround you with people who are like-minded.

4. Learn to think for yourself. If you read Outwitting the Devil, you’ll learn how parents, teachers, religious leaders, bosses, co-workers, friends, etc. can easily influence your thoughts. I’ll use myself as an example. I was a rebellious child and teen. However, it wasn’t until a few years ago that I realized I was a ‘closet’ people pleaser. I did everything my mother and father told me to do, even though it never felt right. I allowed my father to control and manipulate me for a long time. It wasn’t until he got sick that the ‘wheels’ in my head began to turn. I realized I ‘wasted’ my entire life pleasing others instead of pleasing myself. This was a bitter pill to swallow. The irony is my father would say to me, “Did you think? Learn to think for yourself.” Talk about a contradiction!

I’ve been struggling lately with doing things that feel right for me. I just realized that I often put others needs before mine. Instead of saying, “How does this honor me?” I say, “What will so and so think? What will they feel?” I’m still not honoring me and my feelings. I think what happened was, I got tangled up in ‘spirituality now’ and forgot about me along the way. I now know I need to take my own advice and take my power back!

It’s never too late to break the cycle of people pleasing. Learn to set strong boundaries with people, no matter who they are. Stop allowing people to control and manipulate you.

5. Don’t apologize for wanting a better life. If your family and friends are stuck in ‘poverty’ mode, there’s no law that says you must join them. Don’t apologize for wanting a better life. Who knows, maybe you’ll inspire those around you to ‘clean up’ their lives. You can be the catalyst for them.

“Any idea, plan, or purpose may be placed in the mind through repetition of thought”. ~ Napoleon Hill

I learned another life lesson about caring for the people who mean most to me. I love my sister, niece and nephew dearly and am trying to help them break the cycle of dysfunction; however, after reading my September 29, 2011 horoscope (I know), I realized my caring has crossed the line into interference.

Sometimes caring too much can be taken the wrong way and people start to interpret your helpfulness as interference. While it’s true you care for your family and friends and are concerned about their welfare you don’t want them to think you’re being intrusive. As much as you’d like others to come to you should they need help, you don’t want to push your ideas onto them. The line on how much you can care for one another should be made clear.

Ouch! I had no idea I moved into the land of interference until I read the above horoscope for September 29. I thought I was being a kind, loving and caring sister, Godmother and aunt looking out for the people she loves the most. I had no idea I intruded on their right to make mistakes and learn from them. I had no idea I’ve been pushing my ideas onto them. This was and is a big wake up call.

Surround yourself with the best people you can find, delegate authority, and don’t interfere as long as the policy you’ve decided upon is being carried out. ~ Ronald Reagan

From this point forward, I’ll no longer be interfering in the lives of my sister, niece and nephew. If they need or want my help, they can call, email or Skype me. It’s true; I want the best for them. But they have free will and can do whatever they want. On the flip side, I’ll no longer be a willing participant in their or other peoples’ Private Idaho’s. Everyone has the power within them to shift their lives for the better. It’s up to each and every one of us to tap into that power and change. No one can do it for you.

“Anytime there is a struggle between doing what is actually right and doing what seems right, then your ego is interfering with your decision.” ~ Darren L. Johnson

I love the SyFy channel! I also love Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll; it’s one of my favorite children’s books. Needless to say, I was overjoyed in 2009 when the SyFy channel presented Alice, an original mini-series based on Alice in Wonderland and Through The Looking-Glass. I was extremely overjoyed when Alice came out on DVD. About a week ago, I was thinking about the mini-series and lo and behold it was on the SyFy channel. Talk about the law of attraction coming into play! Sadly, I missed the first two hours and caught the ending. I said to myself, I wonder, would the library have the DVD? Sure enough, I was able to request the DVD. I was thrilled! Here’s what I learned.

What I learned from watching SyFy’s Alice

1. The people brought to Wonderland Through the Looking-Glass where labeled oysters. Why? According to Hatter, “For the shiny little pearls they carry inside.” What are the pearls? The pearls are human emotions.

Takeaway: All of us are oysters — we’re precious. And, emotions are precious because they act as a guiding system for us. When you feel angry or revengeful, it’s an indication that something is off.

Takeaway: Money is nothing but paper and coins. That’s it! You can have all the money in the world, but go to a different world and it could be deemed useless. Cultivate a prosperity mindset, and you’ll attract abundance to you. It has nothing to do with pieces of paper. This was a HUGE revelation for me. I could see my PROSPERITY SWITCH turn-on in my brain.

“Instant gratification is a complex business.” ~ King of Hearts

“The Queen just wanted to feel the good, not the bad.” ~ Charlie, Knight.

3. Alice is taken to see Caterpillar (spoiler alert — he’s the head of the resistance) because she wants to get her father back (spoiler alert — he was taken to Wonderland). Caterpillar says to Alice, “The effects of your powerful emotions on our frail senses are devastating. For example, Patient 243 couldn’t get the precious high of ‘flying high’ out of her system, so we’re bringing her back down to Earth in a controlled environment. Patient 671 drank too much self-importance so we’re shrinking his considerable ego little by little back to its original size. The oysters, your people, are contaminating our world. They must go back dead or alive before it’s too late.”

“We’re all vulnerable mix the wrong feelings together with the right kind of bad, with the wrong kind of good and you end up with a total breakdown.” ~ Caterpillar

Takeaway: When you combine emotions such as hate, revenge, anger, lust, ecstasy, stubbornness and other emotions, you’ve mixed a deadly combination that can have major repercussions in your life. Again, your emotions are your guiding system. When they flare up, it’s an indication that something within you is off course or off balance. Slow down and meditate on what’s happening in your life. Being quiet is a great way to finding solutions to your problem.

I recommend you rent Alice — it’s a fast-paced, adventurous story that teaches you at the same time. Who says you can’t learn anything constructive from TV?

A few weeks ago, I signed up for the Cultivating a Prosperity Mindset teleseminar from T. Harv Eker and Randy Gage. Randy was a high school dropout and served jail time at the age of 16. He always heard, “How can someone so smart be so dumb?” Randy’s mind was programmed with this mind virus. While he was in jail, a teacher visited him and said, “You don’t belong here. You take a test and earn a score like a college level. You’re a bright guy — you have the potential to do great things.” Randy wanted to believe him and he did. That’s how he began to change his life. Now, Randy’s a successful businessman.

Randy says, “You need someone who believes in you and that gives you the confidence to believe in yourself. We’re programmed not to stand out. In Australia, it’s known as “the tall poppy syndrome,” the tallest flower is the one that gets cut. We’re told don’t stand out, fit in, keep your head down and don’t get noticed. We’re programmed with these memes.” ~ Randy Gage

It makes it really hard, super hard to succeed when you’re in a negative and or non-supportive environment. Jim Rohn used to say, “Your income will be the average income of the five people you spend the most time with.” That’s not very encouraging when you’re surrounded by Negative Nina’s or Nick’s 24/7.

“You need to work on the root; otherwise, the fruits will be the same.” T. Harv Eker

3 Guiltiest Parties

All governments. They need you to be needy. This keeps their power base.

Datasphere. TV, newspapers, blimps, internet, movies, etc. Many technologies create many mind viruses which travel the world within an hour.

Organized religion. The true message is love. However, there are elements within religions that hi-jack this concept such as, “Money is bad; Rich people are evil; and It’s spiritual to be poor.”

*I would add a fourth guilty party which is family. This is my belief. Listen to what your parents, siblings, aunts and uncles, cousins, grandparents and others say. Do they speak positive or negative words? Do they complain all of the time? Is the sky always falling? Is everything in their life hopeless? I can go on and on, but I think you get the point.

How to dissolve mind viruses

1. Limit the amount of time you spend with negative people. Or, learn to tune them out.

2. Accept responsibility for your life and decide to change it for the better.

3. Be willing to change your life; be willing to live a happier, more successful life. Stop worrying about what others will think. Who cares?

4. Create a positive consciousness before you leave the house. Read a book, listen to a meditation, do yoga, etc. to make sure you’re vibrating where you want to be.

“The secret to prosperity is to be able to be a critical thinker — examine your beliefs. Examine how you got them. Where did you get your ideas from? What makes sense for you? Are they supporting you to have a happier, more successful life? If your beliefs are true and serve you, they’ll withstand the skepticism and questioning. Most peoples’ core foundational beliefs were determined before you were 10-years-old; from parents, counselors, teachers, books, television, etc. You got your beliefs when you were five, six, seven-years-old. Now, you’re 35, 45 or 55 and wondering, “Why can’t I break through? Why am still struggling? Is it the economy? Is it my boss? Ninety-nine times out of 100 it’s self-sabotage because of your limiting beliefs.” ~ T. Harv Eker and Randy Gage.

You get what you expect. Do you expect to succeed or fail? Do expect that you can change your life? Do expect to have that deal go through? Do you expect trouble wherever you go? Do you expect your life will be hard? It will behoove you to examine your expectations.

“Environment is stronger than will power. For example, if you attend a Millionaire Mind Intensive, you’ll be surrounded by like-minded people. In three days, you’ll grow quickly and have such new insight about yourself and your life, about your own successes; that you can easily leave people behind. When that happens, they’re start negating you.” T. Harv Eker

Expect more because you’ll have a better chance of good things happening for you then if you expect less. It’s more supportive, and you’re happier by expecting more. You may not be wealthy tomorrow, but there’s a greater chance you’ll attract prosperity to you sooner rather than later. Stop expecting less! Change the way you think, change everything in your life.

“When a problem has been solved, we need to remember that it’s gone,” Louise instructs. “It has passed. We don’t want to dip into the past to be miserable in the present moment. And we don’t want to become complainers. People who complain a lot are a pain in the ass for everyone around them. Not only that, but they are doing great damage to their own world. Before we verbalize a complaint, we tend to go over it in our mind—several times, dozens of times, several dozen times, dozens and dozens of times. Depending on what our habit is.”

My favorite line from the above excerpt is “People who complain a lot are a pain in the ass for everyone around them.” I chuckled when I read this. Louise/Cheryl wrote what I think but haven’t had the courage to say. I think about how I used to complain; how my former co-workers used to complain. It makes me cringe! I listen to the people around me (family) complain and think, “Thank God I woke up in 2007. Is that how I sounded? Yikes!” I do my best not to sweat the small stuff anymore. For some reason, I used to focus my attention on the littlest or stupidest things. Live and learn.

How to dissolve problems

1. Stop and listen to how much you complain and or criticize you and the people in your life.

2. Notice how many times the people in your life complain.

3. Acknowledge your problems and sit with them for a while. What’s the real story behind your problems? Are they self-inflicted?

4. Journal your problems and review them. What can you do to move past them? Are they worth giving attention to? What are you afraid of if you let your problems go?

5. Meditate on your problems and let them go. If you do this, you make room for change and abundance will flow to you.

I was listening to Part 3 of Caroline Myss’ Why People Don’t Heal and she said something that struck a chord with me. Caroline said, “As a species, we cannot admit our strengths. It’s an uncomfortable process. How often do you meet somebody and say, “How are you? And they say, strong, talented or happy. Nobody does that. It’s not a popular thing to do. Often, you use a wound to get to your strengths, especially your power.” She’s right.

Most of us were taught that it’s wrong to speak about our strengths. We’re not taught to ‘toot our own horn’ because it could make someone else feel bad. This isn’t totally right. There’s nothing wrong with saying, “Yes, I am a fantastic web designer. I am a great writer.” Own your talents, be proud of them.

What are your strengths?

Writing

Speaking in front of audiences

Designer: fashion, graphic, interior or web

Analysis

Healing

Happy

Strong

Content

Singing

Dancing

Nature lover

Speak foreign languages

Know sign language

Can easily forgive and ask for forgiveness

Open minded

Good listener

Make a list of your strengths and read them out loud. Post them around your home, home office, bedroom, etc. Review your strengths and be proud of them because there’s nothing wrong with acknowledging your strengths. You can speak freely about your strengths. It’s up to you whether you do or not.

Question: I just discovered Caroline Myss and she used the term ‘woundology‘ in her presentation “Why People Don’t Heal?” What does woundology mean? How can you permanently heal your wounds? I’d like to heal my wounds once and for all. I journal, meditate, listen to podcasts, burn incense and sage, etc. and nothing seems to work. Help!

Answer: Woundology means you use your wounds — you cling to your wounds. According to Caroline Myss, “Woundology is a very expensive habit to keep a wound alive. The energy comes out of your system, your cell system.” According to the Halexandria Foundation, “Woundology is also a form of scapegoatology which means outside events and others are blamed for what a wounded person experiences.” We have the power to heal from our wounds; however, to do so, means we must give up ‘being right’ for being happy.

When you carry your problems with you everywhere you go, you’re practicing the art of woundology. For example, gave you ever met someone who’s told you their life story in a matter of minutes? They were practicing woundology. However, the person believes they’re sharing their life’s story. They can’t see what they’re truly doing. Let’s face it; we’ve all done this at one point or have done this. I have and now realize the error of my way. Now, wonder I’ve been feeling stuck in a funk for the past year (or more).

FYI: Some experts believe woundology is a form of addiction. Instead of being addicted to drugs and alcohol, gambling, smoking, being right, attention, people pleasing, being a rescuer or victim, food, sex, the internet, movies and television, working out, shopping, relationships, traveling, etc. people are addicted to their pain.

Recognize and heal your wounds today by getting in touch with your emotions and exploring them. The next time you’re tempted to share your life’s story with someone, ask yourself a few questions such as:

Why am I doing this?

What do I get from this?

What’s motivating me to share my story?

Woundology is a way to control and manipulate the people around you. It’s a way to get their attention or for them to rescue you. The truth is you can only rescue and save you. If you wait for others to do it, you’ll be waiting for a long time. Life will pass you by and you’ll be left wondering, “Where did my life go?” However, you can heal your wounds today, and tomorrow life will be easier and happier.

I vowed to be transparent on MisticCafe.com, and I won’t go back on my word. So … Here it goes. I’ve been in a funk for the past few months. Actually, it feels more like I’ve been in a funk for one year and one month, maybe even longer. I’m doing my best to ‘practice what I preach’ about the Law of Attraction and other metaphysical topics but it hasn’t been working for me lately. If it is working, it’s not working the way I thought it would or fast enough. Who knows?

I have a laundry list of things I want to accomplish before October 1. One of the items on my list is to move back to Arizona. I talk about Arizona every day; I think my mom and sister are getting sick and tired of hearing about Arizona. I can’t help it — it’s where I want to be. I could kick myself for not letting go of outdated beliefs and thoughts placed upon me by my mom and dad, especially my dad’s side. What can I say? I always felt like the ‘odd’ woman out because I beat to my own drum — conformity isn’t a part of my vocabulary. I also don’t respond well when someone tells me I can’t or don’t have the rightto voice my beliefs, thoughts and opinions on a topic. When this happens, I cut people out of my life (sometimes completely, sometimes for a short time) without looking back. Sometimes, it’s necessary to love people from a distance. In my case, I have to love them from over 2,000 miles.

I’m very restless; I’m a Life Path five which means I love travel. One of the reasons I love Arizona is the access to highways. I could easily blast to Sedona, the Grand Canyon, Prescott, Tucson or California. I also could have driven to Mexico. I always wanted to visit Chichen Itza. I’m fascinated by the Mayan culture and would love to climb a Mayan pyramid. But I also realized that I want to be ‘grounded’ in Arizona. I’d like to make it my home base. I guess it’s better late than never to figure this out.

Currently, I’m in the Midwest and it’s not working for me. I think I’m surrounded by too much air and water (elements). I’m a fire sign and this doesn’t work for me. I need to feel grounded and have support. The mountains of Arizona are great supporters. Plus, there are more artists and writers who live in Arizona compared to where I currently live. It’s nice to be surrounded by people who understand and ‘get’ you. They understand where you’re coming from.

I keep visualizing and affirming I live in Arizona, but I’m still in the Midwest as of August 31. The area I live in feels more like a retirement community. There’s not much to do; I’m bored to death. I can’t hike or easily get to a highway. Until I moved to Arizona, I never realized how far I had to drive to get to a highway entrance. This doesn’t work for me. I now appreciate Arizona more than I ever did.

I’m not sure how to get out my funk. I meditate, journal, go for a walk (it’s getting old walking around the neighborhood), listen to music, and workout, but nothing seems to help. I feel as if my spirit has left without me. Some spiritual folks would tell me, “Accept where you are.” But I don’t want to do this. If I do, it’s like admitting defeat. Who knows? Maybe I have this backwards. All I know is I need and want to get out of my funk. I’d love to volunteer but opportunities aren’t as plentiful as they are in Arizona. It has the lifestyle I desire. More importantly, it’s where I want to be.

As I was listening to Caroline Myss speak about “Why people don’t heal?” I questioned if the reason I feel stuck or that my spirit has checked out is due to forgiveness. I say “I forgive” (fill in the blank) day in and day out. I journal and meditate about it as well. Maybe I haven’t truly forgiven myself and others. Believe me; I would like my life to move faster. I would like more change, I’m ready for more change. I moved to Arizona and traveled to the UK by myself. I think I handle change. Who knows? Maybe I think too much!